Chapter 23 Labor Camp (1)
Luo Shengdong woke up when the sky was just getting dark. Although he barely slept a wink that night, Luo Shengdong still struggled to sit up. The air was still filled with an unpleasant pungent smell. Luo Shengdong knew that it was the smell of livestock. The livestock shed of his second uncle's house in Yazhou City had this smell. Yesterday, Luo Shengdong saw from a distance a stable with cows and horses in a stable on the dock. They must have been transported here on such a flat iron ship. But why these short-haired pirates would take the trouble to transport livestock across the sea to this deserted place, Luo Shengdong really couldn't figure it out. And how this iron ship without sails and oars came across the sea was also very confusing to him.
After a night, Luo Shengdong's emotions had basically calmed down. Looking back on the capture of his team yesterday, he could no longer feel any luck. The strength shown by the other party has also shown that they are not the "Southern Pirates" that Luo Shengdong thought beforehand. Just this large iron ship requires more than ten thousand kilograms of fine iron. Presumably even the imperial court's shipyard must have Can't be made. The gray-white giant ship docked at the dock seemed to be made of fine iron. Its volume was at least ten times the size of the flat iron ship. Luo Shengdong could no longer imagine how much that giant ship was worth. As for their claim to be "overseas Chinese," Luo Shengdong found it somewhat believable. Otherwise, how could they explain the similarity in appearance and language? Maybe this is the real reason why the other party left people like him alive?
Luo Shengdong looked around. Everyone else was still asleep, and some were even snoring contentedly. Although the cabin where they were imprisoned was not big, fortunately it had an iron mesh on the top and was well ventilated. Moreover, the shorthairs did not use shackles or anything like shackles to trap them, not even the white soft ones that tied their wrists before. The belts were also removed, but the cloth and leather armor worn by everyone was confiscated. There was a commode in the cabin, another bucket filled with water, and a bamboo-cut cup for them to drink from. Although yesterday's dinner was just gruel, the fragrant and glutinous rice was by no means comparable to the low-quality japonica rice usually eaten in the military camp. It can be seen that these short-haired people are not short of food and grass, and there is even enough to share with the prisoners. Judging from these signs, Luo Shengdong believed that at least for now, these shorthairs had no intention of killing prisoners.
But neither killing nor releasing, what does this mean? It doesn't seem to make sense if these shorthairs are going to attack Yazhou City. There is nothing produced in Yazhou. Even if it is conquered, it will just be a grab for money and food. Will these shorthairs who have better food than the gentlemen in the city go to grab food? I'm afraid they may not be able to appreciate that little bit of Chen Guzi! As for the money, all the money in Yazhou City may not be enough to buy the refined iron needed to build a short-haired giant ship. This feels like a rich man trying to rob a beggar, which is totally unreasonable. Luo Shengdong thought about it so much that his head hurt, but he still couldn't figure it out. Of course, even in his wildest dreams, Luo Shengdong could never have imagined that those mysterious short-haired people were so furiously arguing over how to allocate their group of labor force last night that they almost came to blows. And their fate was actually decided the moment they were captured.
At seven o'clock in the morning, a majestic "Soviet March" sounded from the speakers on the roof, and Base No. 1 slowly woke up from the silence. The passers-by took washbasins, towels, toothbrushes, facial cleansers, and started queuing in front of the temporary water supply facility. The sentries of the Military and Police Department completed their first change of guard today. The night watch sentries returned to the station, yawned and sat at the door of the barracks, waiting for the notification from the cooking class to start meal. A few curious children quietly slipped outside the livestock shed and looked at the tall horses through the fence. Perhaps they were still imagining that one day they would become generals commanding battles on horseback.
Of course, the dozens of prisoners held in flat-bottomed barges have not been forgotten. While the travelers were having dinner at Base No. 1, they also got their first meal of the day, a bowl of white rice porridge with pickles that was exactly the same as last night. . After Luo Shengdong, the highest officer among the captured personnel, started, the others picked up their bowls and started eating.
Luo Shengdong had just taken two bites of rice when he heard someone whispering next to him: "This is much better than what we usually eat." "Today's porridge is thicker than last night. Are these shorthairs pirates or good people?" "Really?" It seems good to have two meals of rice porridge every day..."
"Silence!" Luo Shengdong lowered his voice and yelled: "No unreasonable comments!"
After breakfast, someone used a bucket above the cabin to collect the dishes. Soon another group of people came, dressed like the short-haired group that fought yesterday. They also held strange repeating fire guns in their hands, with a long shining spear tip attached to the front. The short-haired boy in the lead said something, and a fisherman kid translated next to him. Luo Shengdong knew that this was the local fisherman who had been mixed up with the short-haired fishermen. He cursed in his heart that he "should be killed", but his ears quietly perked up, lest he missed a sentence.
Soon Luo Shengdong understood Short Mao's intention - Short Mao wanted them to obey the command honestly, because he was going to release them from the ship to work next. But before that, Shorthair also needs to explain some rules to them. Those who follow these rules will one day regain their freedom, while those who violate these rules will only die.
As soon as they heard that they had a chance to regain their freedom, the prisoners immediately started making noises, but what greeted them was a basin of cold water - a real large basin of sea water poured down on their heads. The prisoners who were just a little excited immediately calmed down. .
"The first rule is to raise your hands and shout a report before speaking. You can only speak after getting permission."
After listening to this, no one dared to make any more random noises. Just now Shorthair said, "Breaking the rules will lead to death." If a soldier died on the battlefield while eating food, it would be really unfair if he died because he talked too much.
"Report!" Soon some shrewd people understood the spirit, raised their hands fearfully and shouted.
"Say." The short-haired guy who took the lead seemed very satisfied with this performance and pointed at the person who raised his hand. "This leader, may I ask how we can regain our freedom?"
The answer to this question is undoubtedly what the prisoners are eager to know. Everyone looks up at the short-haired leader standing on the roof of the cabin, hoping that he can give them a reassuring answer. However, the short-haired leader was not in a hurry to answer this question. Instead, he released them from the cabin, lined up in the open space beside the dock, and then began to announce the plan for dealing with them. However, due to some language barriers, the prisoners basically understood what was going on after the entire treatment plan was repeated three times in several different dialects.
After listening to it, Luo Shengdong realized that this plan was not simple. After thinking about it for a while, he slowly figured it out. According to Short Hair's arrangement, a total of forty-seven prisoners in Yazhou Water Village will be organized into "reform-through-labor camps", which simply means they will be forced to perform hard labor instead of being imprisoned. This kind of labor service system is different from the military labor force, conscripted civilian labor, and prisoner hard labor that Luo Shengdong knew, because Shorthair has added something called a "point system."
Shorthair will assign a certain amount of tasks to the captives every day. If they can complete the task, each person will receive two points. Those who fail to complete the task in full will only receive one point. If you exceed the task, you may receive bonus points. This kind of points can be used to exchange for better meals, better living conditions, opportunities to get treatment when sick, and even valuable rest days. For example, the current food treatment for prisoners is two meals a day, morning and evening. Using one point a day, you can eat one more meal at noon, and fish is available for the three meals of the day.
Of course, the points are not just added or subtracted. Points will be deducted for evading labor, points will be deducted for not obeying orders, and points will be deducted for fighting between prisoners... There are more than ten types of points deducted, which makes everyone feel dizzy. But everyone understood the last one - deducting minus twenty points is equivalent to running away and killing!
The personal points of each prisoner are only counted by Short Hair, and cannot be traded or transferred between prisoners. The same is true for the items or benefits exchanged for points. This basically eliminates the situation of officers bullying the weak and squeezing soldiers' points. At the same time, officers must also Participate in labor, otherwise not only will you not be able to obtain points, but you will also be deducted for evading labor.
As for the freedom issue that the captives are most concerned about, they can also be redeemed with points, but the number of points required is larger - one thousand points can be exchanged for freedom. When they heard this, the prisoners were excited again, but no one dared to speak out openly, they just clenched their fists secretly. A thousand points doesn't sound difficult at all. It's two points a day. If everything goes well, I'll get it in a little more than a year. Anyway, it seems that as long as you abide by the rules and work hard, the shorthairs won't kill people anymore, so they can survive while still having fun. There seems to be nothing wrong with eating white rice for a year?
Of course, there are also more astute people such as Luo Shengdong and others who have vaguely realized that this so-called "points system" is not that simple, but limited by their experience, they can't figure out the meaning of the short-haired people doing this. They can only First, obey the shorthair's arrangements honestly and wait for the limelight before making any plans.
After the plan was announced, the first ten sailors were taken away directly. Their labor camp location will be the planned shipyard and the captured Haicang ship. The specific arrangements will be taken over by the Ministry of Shipping. Then Luo Shengdong was called out of the queue. He was appointed as the leader of the labor camp, responsible for managing the thirty-six prisoners under his command. The thirty-six prisoners will be divided equally into four groups, with Luo Shengdong appointing one person as the group leader for each group. For the group with the worst daily workload completion, all members of this group will not be able to use their points to redeem anything for two days, and the team leader’s points will be deducted. If more than two teams are unable to complete the day's work, not only will the team leader's points be deducted, but Luo Shengdong's points will also be deducted accordingly.
Team leaders and big bosses must also assume the responsibility of supervising their subordinates and implement a joint sitting system. If someone in a group escapes, points will be deducted for everyone in the group. If the entire group escapes, they will directly sit on the big boss.
In addition, the team leader and the big boss are temporary positions. On the first day of every month, the team members re-vote to elect the team leader, and then the newly elected team leader votes to decide whether to re-elect a new big boss. If there is a majority in favor, then Luo Shengdong will directly step down from office, and all prisoners will jointly elect a new leader of the labor camp.
As soon as these details came out, Luo Shengdong really began to realize the cleverness of Short Hair's use of this point system. Although he was given the title of big boss by Shorthair, what he did was actually the work of a supervisor, and the performance of the people below him had a direct impact on him. If the person below does not do a good job, he may be dragged out and beheaded after seven or eight days at most because his points are deducted to the minimum limit. But if you squeeze the people below you too hard in order to complete the task, then you may be demoted to a civilian one month later due to public opinion. At that time, you may be even more severely retaliated by your former subordinates.
And the leaders of these four groups are not just nepotism. If the person who is the leader is not capable enough and the group he leads cannot complete the tasks assigned by Short Hair, it will also affect Luo Shengdong's own interests. But if you are too capable, you might be pried off from your position as the boss in a month. This is also a dilemma.
(End of chapter)